Learn Hindi by reading what you love
Otto swaps a share of the words you read into Hindi: on any website, in books and in podcasts. You still follow everything, and the Hindi you understand grows a little every day, without setting aside time to study.
The same sentence at all seven levels
This is the sentence Otto uses to show its levels, taken straight from the app. At A few words only the most common words are Hindi; at Confident the sentence takes Hindi word order too; at Native it is all Hindi.
city council करेगी repair old bridge इस winter, और mayor promised कि pedestrians और cyclists सकते हैं still cross footbridge.
city council करेगी repair old bridge इस winter, और mayor promised कि pedestrians और cyclists सकते हैं अब भी cross footbridge.
नगर परिषद करेगी repair पुराने bridge इस सर्दी, और mayor promised कि pedestrians और cyclists सकते हैं अब भी cross footbridge.
नगर परिषद करेगी मरम्मत पुराने पुल की इस सर्दी, और mayor वादा किया है कि pedestrians और cyclists सकते हैं अब भी पार कर footbridge.
नगर परिषद इस सर्दी पुराने पुल की मरम्मत करेगी, और महापौर ने वादा किया है कि पैदल यात्री और cyclists अब भी footbridge पार कर सकते हैं.
नगर परिषद इस सर्दी पुराने पुल की मरम्मत करेगी, और महापौर ने वादा किया है कि पैदल यात्री और साइकिल चालक अब भी footbridge पार कर सकते हैं.
नगर परिषद इस सर्दी पुराने पुल की मरम्मत करेगी, और महापौर ने वादा किया है कि पैदल यात्री और साइकिल चालक अब भी पैदल पुल पार कर सकेंगे।
The most common words come first
A few hundred words make up most of what anyone reads, so that is where Otto starts. In this sentence, the first Hindi you would meet is:
Hindi words appear in Devanagari, as a Hindi speaker would write them. Tap one and Otto shows what it means and says it aloud, so the script comes to you word by word, in sentences you can already follow.
How you learn Hindi with Otto
- Pick your level. Start with a few everyday words, or most of the page.
- Read as you normally would. A book in the app, a podcast, or any website in Chrome, Safari or the app's own browser.
- Tap any word you don't know. See what it means and hear it. Save it with one tap.
- Practise and move up. Short games in Learn use the words you saved, and as you learn more, Otto shows you more Hindi.
Everything you read, in Hindi at your level
Any website
News, blogs, Wikipedia, recipes: Otto weaves Hindi into the page in Chrome, in Safari and in the app.
Books and podcasts
A library of classic books, and podcasts in which some of the words you hear are Hindi, both at your level.
Your word bank
Every word you save goes to Learn, where quick games bring it back until it sticks.
Your tutor
Working with a tutor? They can set your reading and see the words you looked up.
Questions
Can you learn Hindi just by reading?
Reading things you can mostly understand, with a few new words each time, is one of the best-supported ways to build vocabulary. Otto keeps your reading at that point, and pairs it with short practice games for the Hindi words you save.
What level of Hindi do I need to start?
None. At the first level Otto swaps only a handful of the most common words into Hindi, and it adds more as you learn them, all the way to reading entirely in Hindi.
Is Otto free?
Yes. Everything Otto does is free, with a daily limit. Otto Pro (£3.99 a month) lets you read five times more and work with a tutor; Otto Max (£9.99 a month) five times more again.
Where does Otto work?
On iPhone, iPad and Mac, and as an extension for Chrome and Safari, so it works on the websites you already read.
Do I need to read Devanagari before I start?
No. Words appear in Devanagari, and a tap shows the meaning and plays the sound, so you learn to recognise them as you go.